Pressure-conditioning method

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a continuous method for pressure-conditioning material for food and/or semi-luxury consumables, wherein said material ( 12 ) is introduced through an entrance ( 4 ) into a hyperbarically pressurized conditioning chamber ( 2 ), where it is treated with a conditioning agent, and extracted again from said conditioning chamber ( 2 ) at an exit ( 8 ), wherein the material ( 12 ) is conveyed continuously from said entrance ( 4 ) to said exit ( 8 ) in a conditioning chamber ( 2 ) inclined obliquely upwards, by means of a mixing conveyor, in particular a conveying screw ( 3 ). It further relates to a device for pressure-conditioning material for food and/or semi-luxury consumables, in particular for comminuted tobacco material, preferably tobacco stem material, comprising: a hyperbarically pressurized conditioning chamber ( 2 ), into which the material ( 12 ) is introduced through an entrance ( 4 ); supply nozzles ( 1 ) for treating the material ( 12 ) with a conditioning agent; and an exit ( 8 ) for extracting the material ( 12 ) from said conditioning chamber ( 2 ), wherein the conditioning chamber ( 2 ) is arranged obliquely inclined upwards and comprises a mixing conveyor, in particular a conveying screw ( 3 ), by means of which the material ( 12 ) is conveyed continuously from said entrance to said exit. It further relates to corresponding tobacco materials and smoking products.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional patent application of, currentlypending, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/772,839 filed Feb. 5, 2004,which claims priority to and benefit from German Patent ApplicationSerial Number 103 04 629.1 filed on Feb. 5, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates to a continuous method for conditioning materialfor food and/or semi-luxury consumables, in which the material isintroduced through an entrance into a hyperbarically pressurizedconditioning chamber, where it is treated with a conditioning agent, andextracted again from the conditioning chamber at an exit. In thefollowing, this method shall be called pressure-conditioning for short.The invention further relates to a device for pressure-conditioningmaterial for food and/or semi-luxury consumables.

The material which is pressure-conditioned in accordance with theinvention can on the one hand be a tobacco material, in particulartobacco stem material, or on the other hand a granular food commoditysuch as for example cereals and legumes, i.e. amylaceous products suchas for example maize, rice, wheat, peas and soy beans.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the field of tobacco processing, a number of proposals exist inaccordance with the prior art for conditioning tobacco material, such asfor example stems or strips. What is meant here by conditioning is thenecessary procedural treatment of tobacco material before it is cut oralso shredded. The conditioning process substantially consists of athermotechnical treatment, so-called moistening with the media of steam,water and possibly with casing media. The process serves to make thetobacco material more resilient to the inevitable formation of smallparts and dust during the comminuting process. If the tobacco materialhas a high entry moistness, conditioning can also mean de-moistening thetobacco.

In accordance with the standard method in accordance with the prior art,preparing stems substantially consists of moistening, accompanied bydesired heating. Heated stems benefit the penetration process of thewater into the interior of the stem stalks. The raw stems are thuspartially moistened in a number of stages, wherein steam is sprayed inthe corresponding apparatus and water is added. Furthermore, material isalso stored in boxes in accordance with the prior art. These storagetimes can be up to 24 hours. This disadvantageously results in a largerequirement of time and space for the boxes.

Conditioning is successful if the stem has a high degree of flexibilityand exhibits no discernible surface moistness. Surface moistnesssignificantly disrupts cutting, since slippery pieces of stem elude anundisrupted formation of “stem cake” in the cutting apparatus and causehollow spaces.

Furthermore, slippery stems are more easily torn out of the stem cakewhile being cut by the cutting knife and thus incompletely cut. Theseincompletely cut stems, called knockouts, are to be avoided whencutting.

Burley stems in particular tend to form soapy surfaces. This behavior iscounteracted by setting sufficient storage times. Very often, thematerial is rolled before being cut, which causes an improved packingstructure in the cake.

Rolling is also significantly disrupted by slippery stem surfaces.

In addition to the standard conditioning processes described at thebeginning, other conditioning methods for tobacco material are alsoknown. WO 99/23898, for instance, shows a plant which serves to treatand/or moisten tobacco material with casing medium, wherein theapparatus is arranged vertically, such that the tobacco materialfree-falls vertically from top to bottom through a pipe in which it issprayed with the corresponding medium. Other conditioning systems inwhich is treated with the conditioning medium in free-fall through achamber are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,817, WO 90/06695, DE 197 34364 A1 and DE 100 38 114 A1.

The problem which arises with the systems cited above is that a uniformand thorough penetration of moistness, such as is for example necessaryfor tobacco stems, cannot be optimally realized in the relatively shortdwelling time of the tobacco material while it falls downwards in theconditioning chamber. While such apparatus operate quickly, they do notprepare the tobacco material as thoroughly as would be desirable.

A device for treating tobacco material is known from WO 87/07478, inwhich the tobacco material is introduced into a chamber, where it istransported, lying on a conveyor belt, from the entrance to the exit,while pressurized steam is supplied to the chamber. Because the tobaccomaterial comes to rest piled up on the conveyor belt, layers lower downare disadvantageously more poorly moistened than tobacco material lyingon top, which overall results in not completely satisfactoryconditioning.

For a different, non-generic field of tobacco processing, namely nitratedepletion, a device is known from DE 195 35 587 C2 in which tobacco isinput into an obliquely arranged casing in which a water bath issituated. A slight pressure burden prevails in the casing, and thetobacco stems are transported by means of a conveying screw from thewater bath to the exit of the casing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to provide apressure-conditioning method and a device to this end, which allow thematerial to be processed to be prepared in one stage, uniformly andthoroughly, such that once conditioned, the material is in a desiredstate and/or is optimally suitable for further processing. This is to beachieved in a continuous process which can be performed without storagetimes.

This object is solved in accordance with the invention by: a method forpressure-conditioning material for food and/or semi-luxury consumables,wherein said material is introduced through an entrance into ahyperbarically pressurized conditioning chamber, where it is treatedwith a conditioning agent, and extracted again from said conditioningchamber at an exit, wherein the material is conveyed continuously fromsaid entrance to said exit in a conditioning chamber inclined obliquelyupwards, by means of a mixing conveyor; and by a device forpressure-conditioning material for food and/or semi-luxury consumables,comprising: a hyperbarically pressurized conditioning chamber, intowhich the material is introduced through an entrance; supply nozzles fortreating the material with a conditioning agent; and an exit forextracting the material from said conditioning chamber, wherein theconditioning chamber is arranged obliquely inclined upwards andcomprises a mixing conveyor by means of which the material is conveyedcontinuously from said entrance to said exit. The sub-claims definepreferred embodiments of the invention.

Regarding the method in accordance with the invention, the advantages ofthe present invention are based on the fact that the material isconveyed continuously from the entrance to the exit in a conditioningchamber inclined obliquely upwards, by means of a mixing conveyor, inparticular a conveying screw. This very effectively blends the material,on the one hand by circulating it on the flanks of the conveying screwand on the other by the oblique inclination of the conditioning chamber,since by the effect of gravity this causes the material to always tendsomewhat to fall back on the conveying path. In this way, the materialcan be treated very uniformly and thoroughly with the conditioningagent, and conveying the material in this way also allows theconditioning agent sufficient time to penetrate into the deeper lyingsections. The method in accordance with the invention is performed at ahyperbaric pressure, whereby the conditioning medium can advantageouslybe used at temperatures higher than 100° C. In this way, it is possibleto likewise heat the tobacco stem material higher and thus to obtain anelasticity which is suitable for the subsequent cutting process, even atlower moistness.

The dwelling time of the material in the chamber is advantageously inthe range of a few minutes; it can be between about half a minute andabout twelve minutes. The dwelling time can of course be adapted to therespective application.

In one embodiment of the method in accordance with the invention, thehyperbaric pressure is in the range of about 1 bar to about 11 bars.

If a hyperbaric pressure in the range of about 1 bar to about 1.5 barsis selected, then a very effective, thorough and uniform penetration ofmoistness can already be achieved, in particular when conditioningtobacco stems. In the range of 1.5 to 4 bars, the tobacco stem materialis optimally conditioned in this way and additionally expanded, while atpressure ranges above about 4 bars, the material is conditioned,expanded and defibrated, which are all desired effects.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, thematerial is a comminuted tobacco material, in particular a tobacco stemmaterial. Here, the invention has a particularly advantageous effect,since the correspondingly prepared stem material is cut after theconditioning process in the production sequence. However, the stems'capacity to be cut is determined by the temperature, the moistness andthe resultant elasticity of the stems. Conditioning is advantageous whenthe stems leave the process with high particles temperatures andmoderately raising moistness. This is achieved in accordance with theinvention if the stems are conveyed in the conditioning chamber by meansof the conveying screw and continuously pressure-conditioned, thepressure being set by supplying saturated or superheated steam. Anexample:

Starting from a raw stem moistness of about 7 to 10%, the stems leavethe process depending on the temperature of the saturated steam,corresponding to the saturated steam pressure in accordance with thesteam pressure curve as set forth in the enclosed FIG. 2 (“moisteningcurve”). For example, treating stems with saturated steam temperaturesof 140° C. (about 3.6 bars) results in a moistening of about 20%, withrespect to the base moistness.

Three other curves with different dwelling times are shown in FIG. 2.These relations in turn reflect the same processing quality, withdifferent parameters consisting of dwelling time, tobacco temperatureand tobacco moistness. Experimentally, the occurrence of dust andknockouts and the expansion result achieved were chosen as the criterionfor determining the points. The additional water supply requirement canbe determined from the position relative to the moistening curve. Allcurve points left of the moistening line require no addition of water.Areas right of the moistening curve require an addition of water,depending on the horizontal distance between the moistening curve andthe dwelling time. To determine the water requirement, the initialmoistness and discharge moistness have to be converted into moistnesswith respect to the base dryness. The difference obtained gives thewater requirement in kilograms per kilogram of dry stem mass.

In accordance with the invention, the quality of the stem with respectto cutting at the point dwelling time 2 minutes, 140° C. stemtemperature and 28% stem moistness is to be equated with a stem withdwelling time 1 minute, stem temperature 140° C. and a stem moistness of36%. The advantage of the invention is evident, since stem moistness canbe replaced by increased stem temperature.

Using the method in accordance with the invention, storing the materialin boxes in order to achieve uniform penetration within the stemsbecomes superfluous. The thermal output of the dryer can nevertheless besignificantly reduced, since the stems have to be cut with lowmoistness, which leads to savings in energy and equipment costs.

Temperatures of >100° C. can only be realized in pressurized methods.

Depending on the type of casing material, it can be advantageous tosauce the material in the conveying screw chamber (whole stem casing),in order to avoid an additional processing step.

Furthermore, it is possible to induce tobacco aging processes during thetreatment and thus to achieve specific improvements in taste, with orwithout the addition of casing.

In the treatment of tobacco stem material in accordance with theinvention, the choice of pressure range is particularly important andpartially leads to surprisingly advantageous results. It may bementioned here in advance that, in addition to cutting the conditionedtobacco material, it is also in principle possible to further processthe material by shredding and/or defibrating. In the case of shredding,as opposed to cutting, the stem is defibrated by two rotating plates.One advantage of this is that defibrated stems lower the CO yield in thesmoke of a cigarette as compared to cut stems, however the conventionalshredding method has the disadvantage of increased formation of dust,such that high moisture ranges above 40% would have to be set. Despitethese high moisture ranges, a loss of material of about 20% in the formof dust cannot be avoided. Defibrated stems would actually beadvantageous, however they can conventionally only be achieved if a highformation of dust and high costs for drying prior to further processingare suffered.

In accordance with the invention, however, the tobacco material can beboth conditioned, expanded and defibrated in accordance with theoperational pressure in the conditioning chamber. The pressure rangescan thus be correlated with the product characteristics, as follows inTable 1: TABLE 1 Pressure range Stem characteristics Remarks A   >1 barto 1.5 bars conditioned value ranges in B >1.5 bars to 4 barsconditioned and expanded pressure absolute C   >4 bars conditioned,expanded and defibrated

The expansion—and therefore an increase in filling capacity—of theconditioned stem in the pressure range 1.5 to 4 bars is shown in theincreased diameter of the stem after treatment.

In the pressure range of >4 bars, the stem begins the process ofexpansion with thermal defibration. This defibration is shown in theseparating off of individual fibers, wherein as of about 6 bars, theentire stem—irrespective of type—is completely defibrated. As analternative to mechanical defibration, i.e. shredding, a material cantherefore be produced which exhibits a comparable structure, without theloss of material of about 20% which otherwise has to be suffered.

The defibration may be explained by the sudden reduction in pressurewhich occurs when discharging the conditioned stems.

In accordance with the invention, it is advantageous to give the tobaccomaterial a moistness of about 30% at most during conditioning, wherein amoistness of about 18% to about 30% can be advantageous. The moistnesscan be set depending on the application conditions.

The temperature of the material in the conditioning chamber ispreferably above 100° C., in particular between 120° C. and 190° C.

The method in accordance with the invention can also be used when thematerial is a granular, expandable cereal or leguminous material, suchthat the volume of such a material is significantly increased byso-called “puffing”. The cereals or legumes can thus be prepared in onestage and continuously, with a processing time in the range of a fewminutes, such that puffing is enabled by the sudden release of pressureas the material leaves the conditioning chamber via a discharge sluice.

The device in accordance with the invention comprises a conditioningchamber which is arranged obliquely inclined upwards, and a mixingconveyor—in particular, a conveying screw—by means of which the materialis continuously conveyed from the entrance to the exit. The advantagesof the device in accordance with the invention are based on the factthat using the device, pressure-conditioning can be implemented asdescribed above, with the correspondingly advantageous results.

In accordance with one embodiment of the device in accordance with theinvention, the entrance and the exit are configured as pressuredifferential proof cellular wheel sluices and the conditioning chamberis configured as a pressure proof chamber, wherein the cellular wheelsluices and the chamber are pressure differential proof up to a pressureburden of at least 11 bars. This allows the corresponding pressureratios already described above to be achieved, which advantageouslyenable the processed material to be conditioned, expanded and evendefibrated.

The inclination of the conditioning chamber is preferably variable, inparticular continuously variable, and is varied specifically in a rangeof >0° to 45°. Similarly, the speed of the conveying screw can beconfigured to be variable. This variability helps to set and optimizethe dwelling time of the material in the conditioning chamber. It may befurther optimized by using a conveying screw with a progressive pitch.

In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of the device inaccordance with the invention, the flanks of the conveying screwcomprise cavities through which the material can partially fall back.This falling back of the material is advantageous in two respects. Onthe one hand, this further improves the blending of the material, and onthe other, the cavities largely preclude the possibility of tobaccomaterial getting stuck between the inner wall of the chamber and theedge of the screw, such that the resultant operational disruptions canbe avoided.

The invention further relates to a tobacco material for use in smokingproducts, produced using one of the methods described above or using oneof the devices described above. Such a tobacco material may comprise oneor more of the following materials:

-   -   tobacco stem;    -   reconstituted tobacco, in particular tobacco film and/or        extruded tobacco;    -   winnowings;    -   tobacco leaf or lamina tobacco;    -   scraps or tobacco threshing waste, in particular up to a few cm²        in size;        wherein the materials are provided whole, roughly comminuted or        cut to an application size.

The materials in the above list are advantageously used in the priorityof their order in the list, i.e. preferably tobacco stem, and then withdecreasing priority the ensuing materials. The production parameters forthe tobacco material in accordance with the invention correspond to thevalues cited here for pressure, dwelling time, temperature, endmoistness, optional casing during conditioning, etc.

A tobacco material in accordance with the invention can comprise theabove-cited materials in the following proportions:

-   -   tobacco stem at 45% at most, in particular at 25% at most,        specifically at 20% at most;    -   lamina tobacco at 90% at most, in particular at 50% at most,        specifically at 30% at most;    -   reconstituted tobacco at 40% at most, in particular at 20% at        most.

The invention further relates to a smoking product which at leastpartially comprises tobacco material or combinations of tobacco materialas described above. It can be formed as a cigarette, cigarillo or as arolling product for self-manufacture. The tobacco material in accordancewith the invention can itself also of course be used as smoking tobacco,e.g. as fine-cut tobacco, tamping tobacco, pipe tobacco, etc.

When producing smoking products or a smoking tobacco, it is notnecessarily requisite to use only tobacco material in accordance withthe present invention. Mixtures with other tobacco materials can also beused, e.g. stem conditioned in accordance with the method and stem notconditioned in accordance with the method, which of course does notexclude the possibility that such smoking products or tobaccos are alsomerely generated from mixtures of tobacco materials in accordance withthe invention, e.g. from stem conditioned in accordance with the methodand lamina conditioned in accordance with the method, in a blend.

In the embodiment of the invention, any of the features quoted above canbe implemented in any combination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the invention is explained in more detail by way ofexample embodiments. In the drawings, there is shown:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a device in accordance with theinvention, for pressure-conditioning tobacco stem material; and

FIG. 2 is the figure described at the beginning, with “moisteningcurves” for tobacco stems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In accordance with the representation in FIG. 1, the tobacco stemconditioning device in accordance with the invention comprises apressure proof screw conveyor 2, into which the tobacco stem material 12is introduced via a feed shoe 14 of a pressure differential proofcellular wheel sluice 14. The screw conveyor 2 comprises the conveyingscrew 3, likewise shown schematically only, wherein in actual practicethe outer edge of the conveying screw 3 extends almost up to the innerwall of the casing of the screw conveyor 2. In the screw conveyor 2,steam and—depending on the desired end moistness of the tobaccomaterial—also warm water are sprayed in via various nozzles 1distributed over the circumference and length of the casing of the screwconveyor 2.

In specifically suitable cases, a casing medium can also be supplied viathe nozzles 1. In the interior of the screw conveyor 2, a particularprocess pressure and a particular process temperature are set, dependingon the steam conditions. When saturated steam is used, the respectiveprocess temperatures come out, in accordance with the steam pressureline, between 100 and 184° C., depending on the chosen process pressure,which can be between 1 and 11 bars. Temperatures above the correspondingequilibrium pressure can be achieved using superheated steam.

The screw 3, which has a progressive pitch in the direction of thedischarge cellular wheel sluice 8, conveys the tobacco stem material tothe likewise pressure differential proof discharge cellular wheel sluice8 and said discharge cellular wheel sluice 8 discharges the tobacco stemmaterial out of the screw conveyor 2. The material, which oncedischarged has the reference numeral 15, is then guided via a dischargeshoe 11 onto a conveying means 9 and lastly leaves the steam leakageextraction hood 10.

The average dwelling time of the tobacco material in the screw conveyor2 can be set, via the screw speed and/or the variable inclination of thescrew conveyor 2, to between 30 seconds and twelve minutes. The pitch orinclination of the screw conveyor upwards can be continuously adjustedbetween an angle of >0° and 45°. Due to the scooping volume of thecellular wheel sluices 4, 8 and the gap between the cellular wheel rotorand the cellular wheel casing, a certain amount of steam leakagenecessarily results, which escapes out of the screw conveyor 2 via thesluices and is extracted via steam extraction hoods 6 and 7. Since thesteam leakage represents a loss of energy and impedes the supply of thetobacco stem material into the cellular wheel chambers, the gap betweenthe rotor and the casing is minimized by generating an appropriatetemperature difference between these two components, and the steamleakage rate thus significantly reduced. This tempering of the cellularwheel casing is indicated by the reference numeral 16; to minimize steamgaps or leakage, the cellular wheel casing is tempered via an adjustingcircuit. Only in this way is it possible to maintain an appropriatepressure burden range in the process chamber, with reasonable steamleakage rates. The conditioning chamber and/or its components (screw 3,conveyor 2) can also be heated in order to avoid condensation.

The feed shoe 14 shown in FIG. 1 has the task of keeping the main steamleakage flow 13, which escapes out of the feed sluice 4, away from thetobacco material falling in, so as to ensure that the cellular wheelchambers are filled. The main steam leakage flow 13 is therefore guidedlaterally past the tobacco material supply shaft 5 and leaves the feedshoe 14 via a quadrant pipe towards the extraction hood 6.

In another possible embodiment, the screw conveyor 2 is fitted withvarious wash nozzles—not shown in FIG. 1—over its entire length. Thewash water (heated or cold) can leave the screw conveyor 2, after thewashing process, via the bell valve 17. This bell valve is also usedwhen starting up the plant, to remove any condensation present.

Furthermore, it is possible to provide cleaning shutters on the casingof the screw conveyor 2, in order to make the inner space of theconveyor 2 accessible for cleaning in the event of an occlusion oftobacco material. Three cleaning shutters (not shown in FIG. 1) may forexample be installed, distributed over the length of the apparatus(front third, middle and rear third).

It is likewise possible to provide cavities in the surfaces of the screw3, which largely prevent tobacco material from getting stuck in the gapand thus prevent a drive block, and also enable the tobacco to fallback, enabling as a result an improved and more uniform blending andpenetration of moistness.

By processing the tobacco material in the device shown, depending on theoperational pressure in the screw conveyor, and by setting suitableparameters for plant operation and the tobacco material, the tobaccostems can be conditioned, conditioned and expanded, or even conditioned,expanded and defibrated, as already described in detail above. In thefollowing, the results of application experiments using the device inaccordance with the invention are quoted.

In the following table, Table 2, the results are shown for so-calledlong-stem tobacco stems, wherein the samples 1 and 2 were processedusing a standard process and the samples 3 to 5 were processed using aprocess in accordance with the invention. TABLE 2 Sample Description ofthe conditioning Remarks 1 conditioning to 35% moistness standardprocess plus 5 hours storage atmospheric rolling, cutting with a 0.2 mmconditioning cutting width adding casing admoist with moistening to 40%comparison expansion STS drying to 14% moistness 2 conditioning to 43%moistness standard process plus 5 hours storage atmospheric defibratingin a shredder conditioning adding casing with moistening admoist to 45%drying to 14% moistness comparison 3 conditioning in the screw to 20%sample in accordance with dwelling time two minutes, the inventionrolling cutting with a 0.2 mm conditioning pressure cutting width addingcasing with 1.5 bars of saturated moistening to 25% expansion STS steamdrying to 14% moistness pressure range A in accordance with Table 1 4conditioning in the screw to 21% sample in accordance with dwelling timetwo minutes, the invention rolling cutting with a 0.2 mm conditioningpressure cutting width adding casing with 4 bars of saturated steammoistening to 25% expansion STS pressure range B drying to 14% moistnessin accordance with Table 1 5 conditioning in the screw to 22% sample inaccordance with dwelling time two minutes, the invention cutting with a0.2 mm cutting conditioning pressure width adding casing with 6 bars ofsaturated steam moistening to 25% expansion STS pressure range C dryingto 14% moistness (defibrated) in accordance with Table 1

Table 3 shows the filling capacities of the five stem samples from Table2: TABLE 3 Sample Results Remarks 1 filling capacity: 5.4 ml/g correctedto 12% comparison: cut moistness 2 filling capacity: 5.6 ml/g correctedto 12% comparison: moistness mechanically defibrated 3 filling capacity:5.7 ml/g corrected to 12% moistness 4 filling capacity: 6.7 ml/gcorrected to 12% moistness 5 filling capacity: 7.2 ml/g corrected to 12%thermally defibrated moistness

Thus, using pressure-conditioning in accordance with the invention, itis possible to cut stems having a conditioning time of just two minutesand an end moistness of 25%, and nonetheless achieves an improvedfilling capacity.

In the following, another example application for cereals and/or legumesis quoted in Table 4. As representatives of this group, the amylaceousproducts rice, maize, wheat and peas were processed, as shown in Table4: TABLE 4 Sample Sequence of the method Remarks maize conditioningpressure 7 bars, the volume of all the dwelling time five minutesproducts was significantly rice conditioning pressure 8 bars, increasedand in dwelling time four minutes accordance with the wheat conditioningpressure 9 bars, known image of popcorn, dwelling time five minutespuffed rice, etc. peas conditioning pressure 10 bars, dwelling time sixminutes

Thus, also with granular, amylaceous food material, it is possible toproduce products with a significantly increased volume, wherein themethod in accordance with the invention has the advantage of being acontinuous procedure.

In the foregoing description, preferred embodiments of the inventionhave been presented for the purpose of illustration and description.They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possiblein light of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen anddescribed to provide the best illustration of the principals of theinvention and its practical application, and to enable one of ordinaryskill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments andwith various modifications as are suited to the particular usecontemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scopeof the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpretedin accordance with the breadth they are fairly, legally, and equitablyentitled.

1. A method for pressure-conditioning material for food and/orsemi-luxury consumables, comprising the steps of: Introducing materialthrough an entrance into a hyperbarically pressurized conditioningchamber; treating said material with a conditioning agent; extractingsaid material from said conditioning chamber at an exit; conveying thematerial continuously from said entrance to said exit in a conditioningchamber inclined obliquely upwards, by means of a mixing conveyor. 2.The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mixing conveyor is aconveying screw.
 3. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein thelongest dwelling time of the material in the chamber is in the range ofa few minutes.
 4. The method as set forth in claim 3, said dwelling timebeing in the range of about half a minute to about twelve minutes. 5.The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein a hyperbaric pressure insaid conditioning chamber is in the range of about 1 bar to about 11bars.
 6. The method as set forth in claim 5, wherein the hyperbaricpressure is in the range of about 1 bar to about 1.5 bars.
 7. The methodas set forth in claim 5, wherein the hyperbaric pressure is in the rangeof about 1.5 bar to about 4 bars.
 8. The method as set forth in claim 5,wherein the hyperbaric pressure is in the range of above about 4 bars.9. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the material is acomminuted tobacco material.
 10. The method as set forth in claim 1,wherein said comminuted tobacco material is a tobacco stem material. 11.The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the material has a moistnessof less than 30% at most during conditioning.
 12. The method as setforth in claim 9, wherein the material is given a moistness of fromabout 18% to about 30% during conditioning.
 13. The method as set forthin claim 9, wherein the temperature of the material in the conditioningchamber is above 100° C.
 14. The method as set forth claim 1, whereinthe temperature of the material in the conditioning chamber is between120° C. and 190° C.
 15. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein thematerial is treated with casing material.
 16. The method as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the material is a granular, expandable cereal orleguminous material.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein said treatingsaid material includes de-moistening or drying of said material.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, said de-moistening or drying being carried out bymeans of superheated steam.
 19. A method for pressure-conditioningmaterial for food and/or semi-luxury consumables, comprising the stepsof: introducing tobacco stem material through an entrance into ahyperbarically pressurized conditioning chamber; treating said materialwith a conditioning agent, said treating being from about half a minuteto about twelve minutes in the range of a few minutes at a moistness ofless than 30% and a temperature between 120° C. and 190° C.; extractingsaid material from said conditioning chamber at an exit; conveying thematerial continuously from said entrance to said exit in a conditioningchamber inclined obliquely upwards, by means of a mixing conveyor, saidmixing conveyor being a conveying screw.